Young Del. Allen May Ride To Bigger Victories

RICHMOND — George F. Allen endured his first campaign for the House of Delegates in wingtip shoes.

"It was terrible. I was uncomfortable. I got blisters," Allen, a 37-year-old Republican from Albemarle County, recalls from his 1979 campaign.

Worst of all, he lost.

The wingtips now sit in a closet gathering dust while the cowboy boots he prefers have since carried him to five straight election wins - the last three uncontested.

Allen is one of a handful of young Republicans in the legislature who are being considered for statewide office in 1993. He's the only one who will likely do it in cowboy boots.

The boots are just part of a persona Allen has created over the years.

They are part of the appeal of being the son of former Washington Redskins coach George H. Allen, who led the team to its first Super Bowl in 1973. They complement the 6-foot-4 Allen's years as a backup quarterback at the University of Virginia and as a rugby player while attending U.Va.'s law school.

They fit the tough drug measures he has supported, his anti-communist speech-making on the floor of the House and hunting legislation he sponsored, with the backing of the National Rifle Association, to prevent the wanton killing of wild game.

And they go with his cowboy hat, the stories he can tell of his summers as a cowpoke during law school, his 10-acre spread with the log cabin in the hills outside Charlottesville and the plastic foam cup he keeps at his side during the day to spit out the snuff he constantly sucks on.

A flier Allen sent out to his constituents briefing them on the 1990 legislative session shows him as he is apparently most happy - with his hat on, astride a horse.

Democrats snort at the cowboy image.

"Can you imagine him going to Virginia Beach or Northern Virginia and spitting in a spittoon?" asked one Democratic lawmaker.

But supporters and some observers say the image is the real George Allen, the way he's always been.

"He's been remarkably consistent over the years," said Del. G. Steven Agee, R-Salem, who went to law school with Allen. "The cowboy hat, the boots, the pickup truck were all there."

And with a little bit of the tempering Allen himself disdains, handicappers see Allen going far.

"I think he's a hot prospect," said Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia political analyst who graduated with Allen from U.Va. But Sabato concedes the cowboy image might play better in his home district than other areas of the state.

"That part probably won't play well, but he's an attractive media candidate - and that's half the battle in urban areas," Sabato said.

Allen didn't grow up a cowboy. He grew up in a world dominated by football.

He was born in Whittier, Calif., where his father was coaching a college team. The senior Allen's football career was fast moving and so was the family.

After stops around the country, the father got a job as a scout and assistant coach with the Chicago Bears.

The son remembers the swearing and the tobacco-chewing players at training camp. When he was 8 years old, some of the players tried to teach him a lesson by offering him tobacco and telling him to swallow the juice. The burning in his mouth and throat persuaded him not to try that again for at least five years, he says.

Family trips were off-season jaunts scouting new players.

The younger Allen went to high school in Los Angeles while his dad coached the Rams. When the father got a job as head coach of the Redskins, the son went to college at U.Va.

He played backup quarterback, although his dad wanted him to play baseball - the players made more money, lasted longer and weren't as likely to be injured, his father reasoned.

As a junior, the son was recognized as an all Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team quarterback, which recognizes good grades more than playing performance.

After graduating with a degree in history in 1974, Allen went to U.Va. Law School.

He actually spent a summer as a cowpoke between one summer between years at law school. He worked on a Nevada ranch, spending all day in a saddle on cattle drives, learning to brand cattle and castrating the young bulls.

Allen says he met some interesting people. "Those folks didn't care about arguing with words. If you weren't prepared to fight, you didn't really believe your position," he says.

He clerked for a federal judge in southwestern Virginia after graduating from law school in 1977. His training under the judge ranks as one of the experiences that had the most impact on his life, he says.

He moved back to Charlottesville after his clerkship and bought a run-down but historic building. He spent the next few years fixing up the place - living in it even before it had running water. He now has a general law practice in the building and rents sections of it to other professionals.

Allen was head of the state youth for Reagan in 1976. In 1979, he made his first bid for the General Assembly - with the help of image-makers who told him to clean up his act and get rid of the cowboy boots.